Tacos have become as ubiquitous as burgers and fries, capturing the hearts and taste buds of food lovers everywhere. Their versatility and simplicity make them a perfect canvas for showcasing a variety of plant-based ingredients. Whether you’re a seasoned vegan or simply looking to incorporate more wholesome and nutritious options into your diet, these five tantalizing taco recipes will delight your palate and nourish your body. Each recipe features a unique main ingredient, highlighting the diversity and health benefits of plant-based cuisine. Get ready to savor these colorful and delectable tacos, each bursting with flavor and packed with nutrients.

5 Tantalizing& Nourishing Taco Recipes:

#1- Hearty Walnut & Lentil Tacos:

4 Servings-two tacos each

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 8 Corn tortillas
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish :

• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tomato, wedge slices
• ½ cup vegan cheese, grated
• 1 Avocado, slices (optional)
• Taco Sauce (your favorite)
• 2 Lime, cut wedges

Directions:

1. In a dry heated skillet add walnuts and toast until golden brown, don’t overcook, smell for the delightful aroma and stir frequently. Let cool and chop. Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until softened.
3. Add the toasted chopped walnuts.
4. Stir in the lentils, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Cook for 7-10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.
5. Warm the corn tortillas in a separate skillet.
6. Assemble the tacos by placing a generous amount of walnut and lentil mixture onto each tortilla.
7. Top with grated vegan cheese, fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, avocado slices, and a squeeze of lime. And your favorite taco sauce.

Nutritional Benefits:

• Walnuts provide healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids.
• Lentils are rich in protein, fiber, and iron.
• This combination offers a balanced mix of macronutrients and antioxidants.

Why I Recommend It: This taco is a fantastic way to enjoy a protein-packed and flavorful meal that’s also heart-healthy and satisfying.

#2- Smoky Seared Jackfruit Tacos:

4 Servings -two tacos each :-

Ingredients:

• 2 can young green jackfruit, drained, cooked and shredded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Jerk seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 Blue Corn tortillas
• Red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 Fresh mangos, diced
• 1 Jalapeño, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup Fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 Limes thinly cut into half moons

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain young jackfruit, add to quart of boiling water and cook for 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and let cool and shred with a fork.
2. Place shredded jackfruit in a bowl and add the smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, Jerk seasoning and salt and pepper (to taste). Mix well, covering the jackfruit completely and let set for 30 minutes.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shredded jackfruit and cook until it begins to brown.
4. Continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes until the jackfruit is slightly crispy.
5. Warm the blue corn tortillas in the oven follow package instructions.
6. Assemble the tacos by adding seared jackfruit onto each tortilla.
7. Top with red cabbage, fresh mango, jalapeño slices, and cilantro. Finish with a squeeze of lime.

Nutritional Benefits:

• Jackfruit is a low-calorie fruit that’s high in fiber and vitamin C.
• Red cabbage provides antioxidants and vitamin K.
• Mango adds a dose of vitamins A and C, along with natural sweetness.

Why I Recommend It: Jackfruit’s meaty texture makes it an excellent plant-based alternative, and the combination of flavors in this taco is vibrant and refreshing.

Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

The pelvic floor is the unsung hero of the lower body. Think of it like an upside down umbrella of muscle and tissue that keeps important organs — including your bladder and bowels — where they should be. If that wasn’t cool enough, pelvic floor muscles also help you achieve orgasm and help control bodily functions like when you pee or poop.

Pelvic floor muscles are like other muscles in your body in the way that they can get weaker over time. Age, childbirth, health conditions and injury can put strain on the pelvic floor which can lead to problems such as bladder leakage and prolapse. But you can strengthen pelvic floor muscles which can help with a range of symptoms and problems. “Just like you would go to an exercise class, you should go to pelvic floor physical therapy,” said Robyn Faye, M.D., an OB-GYN and member of HealthyWomen’s Women’s Health Advisory Council.

Faye noted that pelvic floor physical therapy can also help with pelvic muscles that are too tight (hypertonic) which can cause difficulty peeing and painful sex. “I’m a real proponent for a pelvic physical therapist because they do so much work and help so much with [things like] painful intercourse,” Faye said.

Read: Your Pelvic Floor. What Is It Good for? >>

If you’re having problems with your pelvic floor, here’s what you need to know about pelvic floor physical therapy.

This educational resource was sponsored by Poise, a brand of Kimberly-Clark.

As told to Jacquelyne Froeber

A few years ago, I was at home when I had the urge to pee. I made my way to the bathroom, but about halfway there, I started to go. I picked up the pace but some of the pee didn’t make it into the bowl. I was surprised — and thankful I was home! I chuckled and brushed it off. I must’ve waited longer than I thought to go. But I also felt uneasy.

I’m not exactly a stranger to bladder leakage. I was in a terrible car accident when I was a teenager and had multiple pelvic fractures and a ruptured bladder in addition to other injuries. I was in a coma for a while, but my body healed and I went back to the sports I enjoyed before the accident. During my first track meet after my recovery, I was rounding the quarter-mile and pushing myself to stay ahead of the pack when I felt a warm sensation begin to spread down my legs. It wasn’t long before my maroon shorts were soaked. Each stride solidified that I’d peed myself in front of the entire school. I was mortified.

That experience taught me an early lesson about my body and bladder leakage: pushing my body could end up in humiliation. I would never run again. I wouldn’t even look at a trampoline. But I learned that I could do less stressful physical activities, like biking and walking, and I’d be fine.

I put the peeing incident behind me and went about my life relatively leak-free. Years later, I gave birth to two boys, both C-sections, and never had a problem with my bladder. I continued my active lifestyle and laughed and sneezed with reckless abandon into my 40s.

And then things started to change. Like many women in perimenopause, my body is changing. I was hoping that one bathroom incident was no big thing. But it happened again the next month, and gradually, I started to leak before I made it to the bathroom more and more frequently.

My job made this an even bigger problem. I do in-home healthcare, so I’m always in the car driving from one place to the next. I’m not really supposed to use the bathroom at people’s homes, so I have to rely on finding a gas station or a fast-food restaurant where I can sneak in without buying something — which makes me feel bad, but if I had to buy something every time I had to pee, I’d be broke.

Since I don’t have the freedom to just use the bathroom if I have the urge, I have to hold it. But these days the urge means I have seconds, not minutes, before a leak.

This has led me to wearing bladder leakage pads most days because sometimes getting to a gas station — or any restroom — just isn’t possible. Also, I know I’m just one sneeze away from a leak, so pads help me feel less stressed about work and whenever I leave the house.

Back in the day, after the track meet incident, I went to see a urologist to assess my bladder leakage, which is technically called urinary incontinence, and to find out if there was anything I could do to help the situation.

He told me to train my bladder by pushing out the pee — hard — and stopping the flow midstream. All these years later, I’ve been pushing and pushing thinking I was strengthening my pelvic floor muscles, but it turns out the jury’s out on whether that’s the best thing to do.

My current OB-GYN encouraged me, instead, to relax and let the pee dribble and flow naturally without aggressive pushing. This is tough because it’s the opposite of what I’ve been doing since I was a kid. But I’m trying.

My OB-GYN also told me that people who have abdominal surgery are more likely to have bladder leakage. Since I had abdominal surgery after the car accident and two C-sections, that’s a triple whammy for me. And age probably has something to do with it, too.

Since my urinary incontinence has gotten worse lately, I started pelvic floor therapy a few weeks ago. There, I work on strengthening and engaging my muscles with a pelvic floor therapist.

To help manage symptoms, I make sure I don’t drink an excessive amount. But a girl’s gotta have some fun. I still have my coffee in the morning, even though it’s an irritant to the bladder. (Tip: Drinking a glass of water with it can make it less irritating.)

Pretty much everything about bladder leakage is, in fact, irritating.

I’m a single mom, so I’m tired a lot of the time and I don’t always want to be thinking about what I’ve been taught about bladder health. I don’t always want to wait two hours to get full bladder expansion. And I don’t want to have to relax my pelvic muscles when I’m in a restroom at a gas station. Sometimes, I just want to push, go and get the hell out of there.

And sometimes I do that. But most days I do try to honor my bladder. I hope the pelvic floor therapy helps. Until then, I won’t feel comfortable unless I wear a pad — because life happens.

With the help of pelvic floor therapy and pads, I’m hoping that, soon, I’ll be back to running for fun instead of just running for the bathroom.

*Mary Kathryn is not her real name.

Resources

National Association for Continence

Poise Incontinence Pads

This educational resource was sponsored by Poise, a brand of Kimberly-Clark.

Have a Real Women, Real Stories of your own you want to share? Let us know.

Our Real Women, Real Stories are the authentic experiences of real-life women. The views, opinions and experiences shared in these stories are not endorsed by HealthyWomen and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HealthyWomen.

Debora Grandison, a 63-year-old author in St. Louis, MO, first learned that she had issues with her heart in 1988 when she went into preterm labor. The labor stopped but the medications she needed caused complications, leading to a few weeks in intensive care where she was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse and gestational diabetes.

Grandison’s blood glucose went back to normal after she delivered her son, but her heart palpitations continued. Three years later, Grandison went to her doctor because she thought she had the flu. It wasn’t the flu. Her blood glucose levels had spiked to dangerous levels, and she was later diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Unfortunately, her health issues continued.

After several years of seeking answers from several doctors for severe heart palpitations, shortness of breath, left arm pain and dizziness, Grandison was finally diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and she got a pacemaker. She learned later that she also had atrial fibrillation, which increases stroke risk. But what bothers Grandison, now a volunteer for Go Red For Women, an American Heart Association initiative, is that she was never told anything about heart disease risk when she was diagnosed with diabetes. “They told me about complications like blindness, amputations and kidney disease, but that was it,” she said.

Almost half of women in the U.S. don’t know that heart disease is the number one cause of death among women (it accounts for 1 in 5 deaths), yet more than 60 million have some sort of heart disease. The numbers get even higher if they have diabetes. Women with diabetes have a higher chance of having a heart attack when they’re younger, and they have a higher risk of dying from that heart attack.

Diabetes also increases a woman’s risk of having a stroke. The high levels of blood glucose can increase the fatty deposits that line the blood vessels, narrowing or blocking them. High levels of blood glucose are also associated with elevated or high levels of triglycerides (a type of fat) in your blood that are also associated with heart disease.

This educational resource was created with support from Amarin.

“Success does not come overnight, so be sure to savor the journey”

Leah Neset is an American ice dancer. With her skating partner, Artem Markelov, she is the 2024 Junior World champion, 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix gold medalist, and a three-time U.S. junior national champion (2022, 2023, 2024)

Neset was born on December 7, 2005, in Minot, North Dakota to mother Cheri, a dental hygienist and skating coach, and father Kris, a civil engineer. She has a younger sister, Kylie.

Neset became interested in taking up skating at the age of three as her mother was involved in the sport, and her father was a college hockey player. Her mother Cheri was her first coach. Neset, along with her mother and younger sister, relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2018 in order for Neset and her then skating partner, Dimitry Tsarevski, to begin training under two-time World Junior silver medalist Elena Dostatni. The young team won the silver medal in the Intermediate ice dance category at the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships before ultimately splitting in May 2019.

Neset eventually connected with her current partner, Artem Markelov, via a Russian ice dance partner search website. A native of Volgograd, Markelov chose to relocate to the United States to partner with Neset in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed international travel.

Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Leah Neset an exceptionally talented American ice dancer here she talks about her fitness routine, her diet, and her success story.

Namita Nayyar:

You were born in Minot, North Dakota, USA and relocated in 2018 to Colorado Springs, Colorado. You started skating at the age of three years and then at age of 14 years you won the silver medal in the Intermediate ice dance category at the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. This later propelled your career to the height where you have been at the top of the world of ice dancing in the junior category. Tell us more about your professional journey of exceptional hard work, tenacity, and endurance?

Leah Neset:

I started my skating journey at a young age in Minot, North Dakota. My mom was a figure skater and continues to coach skating and my dad was a hockey player and continues to play and officiate hockey, so it was meant to be! While skating in North Dakota, I competed and tested freestyle, skating skills, and pattern dances, with my mom as my primary coach. When I was about ten years old, we took a trip to Colorado Springs for the first time to skate at the World Arena Ice Hall.

I found it very inspiring to see the high intensity of training of so many great skaters, and I wanted to become like them. After that first trip, we made several more visits to Colorado Springs, during one of which I had the opportunity to try out with an ice dance partner. Eventually, I moved to Colorado Springs with my family in 2018 to pursue competitive ice dance. I skated with that partner for a year and then continued to train my own personal skills until forming a partnership with my current partner, Artem Markelov, in 2020. From the first day skating together, we knew we were a good match.

Since then, we have so far skated four seasons together. During our first season together, most competitions were canceled due to the pandemic. Fortunately, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were still held, and we were able to place 6th there. In our second season, we competed in our first international competitions and won our first Junior national title. In our third season, we earned our first international medal and competed at our first Junior World Championships. In our most recent season, we were able to have an undefeated season and become the Junior World champions. Through it all, we have grown much as skaters and as people, and we look forward to what the future holds!

Namita Nayyar:

You won Gold Medal at 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, in Taipei, Taiwan. Tell us more about this spectacular achievement of yours?

Leah Neset:

Winning the gold medal at the 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan was very special. It represented all the hard work that we had done, and it also gave us further ambition for the future. It was especially an honor to stand on the podium and realize that we represent more than just ourselves when we skate. We represent our country, the United States of America, as well as our coaching team and our families who have invested so much into us. While we were in Taipei City, we also had fun cheering for our teammates and visiting some of the beautiful sights there!

Namita Nayyar:

In 2021, you teamed up with Russian ice dancer Artem Markelov, and since then it has been no holding back. You both have won numerous ice dancing competitions. Tell us more about your Ice dance arenas, perfect chemistry between the two and synchronizing in perfect harmony when performing in a competition.

Leah Neset:

I am very grateful to skate with Artem. It is so special to be able to share this journey together! Working in a team is not always easy, but it is the challenges that make the journey all the more meaningful. Especially when we first started skating together, it was difficult to overcome the cultural and personality differences.

However, I think our differences make us an even better match. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses, allowing us to push each other to be better. We have so much fun performing, traveling, and chasing our dreams together. I think because we have such a strong connection, we are able to display that on the ice. In terms of synchronization, that is all the result of many hours of practice.

Full Interview is Continued on Next Page

This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President of womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied, or hosted in part or full anywhere without express permission.

All Written Content Copyright © 2024 Women Fitness

Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Bladder leakage, also called urinary incontinence, is a common condition that affects as many as half of all women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) at some point in their lives. And these numbers increase with age.

Read on to learn about common causes of bladder leakage, ways to manage leakage and treatment options.

This educational resource was sponsored by Poise, a brand of Kimberly-Clark.